The 907 Strut

” What are we celebrating?”- LIFE, that’s what we’re celebrating! I felt like I've spent these past few months under a rock and I’m finally out to see the sun and I love it. This has a lot to do with the fact that this semester is over (I got an A in my class), I’m settling in my new position (yes, I got another promotion!) and I've made the decision to be happy (yes, you have a choice). Thank you to all the readers that have followed up with me to make sure I am alive, I truly appreciate your thoughts and love. Time away from the The 907 Strut has made me realize how much this means to me and how much potential it has. I love writing, but even more, I love The 907 Strut and my readers! I’m so excited to catch up with everyone and if you’re not on my social sites, I want you to know what else I've been up to!

First things first, I CUT MY HAIR! 

Like for real cut it! I’m a mixture of indecisiveness and perfectionist so the combo can be detrimental to change. So when I told my family and friends I wanted to do this, they didn't believe me! Growing up with my mother being a hairdresser I would keep my hair done but I never wanted my ends trimmed. I was so stuck on the fact that long hair made you beautiful and only women with certain facial structures can rock the short haircuts.Well, take that self-doubt. You look BOMB,COM! 

I won tickets on KFAT to go to prom! They had their annual Prom Version 2.0 and the 90’s groups Color Me Bad and All For One perform. Since this was a 90’s inspired prom, I decided to bring it back with my hair and got FINGER WAVES! Finger waves matched with my black cutout dress from Rebdolls, I definitely outdid my senior prom by far! Oh, and Rebdolls loved my look too!

This past week has been a roller-coaster ride between excitement and disappointment. 

Of the 4 pounds that I was down last week, 2 of them crept back into my life. It could definitely be muscle weight or it could be the lasagna, donuts or left over V-Day candy. Whatever it is, it really had me down on myself and then I remembered that I’m still down 2 pounds! On the other end of the roller coaster (the good side) I joined Your Destiny Fitness Challenge! Destiny is another local Alaskan with a dream to assist others to reach their health goals. Instead of focusing on weight, the challenge is focused on the percentage of body fat lost. She wants to make sure the participants are losing weight the safest way by eating right and exercising instead of crash dieting and other weight loss gimmicks. In the end, the winner that brought their body fat percentage down the most will win a trip to Hawaii! As I was talking to her about the challenge I could tell she genuinely wanted to see others reach their weight loss goals and that was pretty inspiring!

Meatless Monday has become more and more fun! 

I don’t have pictures from this Monday’s meals but in a nutshell I ate foods without meat! (Haha) I ate cereal (with regular milk) and a banana for breakfast, a spicy black bean burger with homemade corn salsa (yum) for lunch and more cereal for dinner (I didn't go grocery shopping). The reason I find Meatless Monday so fun is because it forces me to think about what I’m eating, I feel like I get really “auto-pilot” when it comes to meals and then I forget that it may not be healthy. With this personal challenge, I've invited my brain to the party and my brain is pretty happy about that! It feels good to be in control of my health again!  

I like ratchet music at the gym!

For some reason the Ying Yang Twins, 2 Chainz and Travis Porter's radio on Pandora is EVERYTHING while I'm at the gym! I have too much fun doing cardio and listening to these stations! It cracks me up at how composed I look on the outside and how shocking it may be if someone heard what I was listening to. I noticed that when I have the high energy (and slightly ratchet) songs, I turn the workout all the way up! It's not rocket science that an upbeat song will get you pumped but it is funny that my upbeat songs aren't so appropriate. 

As the month is coming to an end I have to say that I don't see many changes physically but I do feel good about where I'm at. I forgot how much I loved really taking care of myself in this aspect and it was nice to get back on track! Just because February is ending doesn't mean that my healthy habits will. I feel motivated by the fact that I see progress in what I'm doing and stayed tuned for more! As always, you can connect with me by sending me a message, commenting and liking! Stay tuned!

Cashew Milk is making a comeback, kind of.

Meatless Monday for the WIN!

I was full after each meal, it tasted great and according to the free app named My Fitness Pal, I stayed under my calorie goal!

I remember when I thought of Valentine’s Day as a shitty day. I specifically remember the year my freshmen crush broke my heart and went to the movies with another girl (a**hole). I sat in my room that entire Valentine’s Day and listened to Ne-Yo’s “So Sick” on REPEAT while my closest friends, who were also single, were living it up. What was the difference between me and them? Not much. When I think of it, we all had our crushes who were all high school boys (A.K.A a**holes) and we were all single. The only thing is that they decided to live it up!

If you’re single and you’re convinced Valentine’s Day will be terrible; then guess what?! IT WILL BE! If you’re going to try to act like it’s not even happening, well you have your work cut out for you. Flowers are going to be sent to your coworkers, people will gloat over their gifts and every piece of chocolate will be in the shape of a heart.  My suggestion is to love it, embrace it and BUY YOUR OWN CHOCOLATE! You deserve it! Instead of treating Valentine’s Day as a day that only people in relationships can enjoy, treat it as a day to embrace how much you love… YOU! Here are some things that I’ve done that made my Valentine’s worthwhile:

I think the most beneficial thing I could take from this day is that it is what you make it. You have the power to enjoy every day, so why spend it any other way? I hope you all dress up, show up and eat ALL THE DAMN CHOCOLATE you want! Tag me in some of your Valentine’s Day looks!! Thanks for reading!

XOXOXOXO

Sharita L Conley

I was definitely trying to hide behind my phone! I was looking cray!

It’s funny how you don’t realize how long you've been off the band wagon until you try to get back on! This week definitely felt like many other “Week 1’s”. My goal was to condition myself back into a healthier lifestyle. I wouldn’t say it was a complete fail but I will say it was an…..experience.

Here’s what I've experienced so far.

Cashew Milk is NASTY!

The first week was just me getting my feet wet. I’m ready to at least get my knees wet this week; I’ll let you know how that goes!

XOXOXO

Sharita L Conley

This was my fitness progress as of two years ago, and I was feelin’ good! 
The picture to the right was me while I was on vacation in Seattle back in 2013 and the one on the left was me a year before that. At that moment in Seattle, I was IN LOVE with everything around me. I was focused and stayed on track and at that point I was down more than 20 pounds! That was the most weight that I have every lost in my life! Kudos to me! In 2013, I was also planning to relocate permanently to Seattle to go to school for Fashion Merchandising at The Art Institute of Seattle. So with that goal in mind, I knew that I wanted to take Seattle by storm and be much healthier than I ever was in my life. Well, things didn’t go as plan. 2013 was also the beginning of my “Promotion Streak” at work and I was feeling on fire! When I came back from vacation I gave the universe an ultimatum, if I don’t get this promotion then it wasn’t meant to be and I’ll head to Seattle as originally planned and if I do get it, I’ll stay a little bit longer. I got the promotion! With the promotion came more money, more work experience and more time to lose the weight. There was the problem. I no longer had the deadline in mind and to me, no deadline= procrastination. Long story short, I gained the weight back and then a little more.

This is not a shame post. I’m far from disappointed and if you ask me, I've reached my goal weight. Are you asking how that is possible when I've gained weight. Well, I’ll tell you why! If you think about it, I put in a similar amount of effort to gain weight as I did to lose it. Instead of the gym I would hang out, instead of carrots I went for cookies, and in those moments, I was doing exactly what I wanted to do. Therefore, I've reached my goal weight doing exactly what I wanted. And if you ask me, I still look good!

I do have a new goal in mind, this time it’s not to lose weight to move out of state or to do whatever I want and gain weight, but it’s to be the ultimate me. I feel like I look good at any weight and I’d like to thank all the beautiful women in my life that have given me that mindset but I do want to be healthier. Health isn't a weight but an overall outlook and feeling. And damn it, it feels pretty good going up some stairs and not feel like I've ran a marathon.

For the month of February I’ll be trying out a few different places that promote physical health and try some new things that promote overall health. I’ll be posting what I try and let you know what is keeping me on track. I’ll put up posts here as well as my social sites (see below) to keep you all updated!

And if you plan to try it out with me, tag me or message me and we can keep each other motivated!

Let the fun begin!

XOXOXO

Sharita L Conley

Instagram @sharitalconley
Pinterest @the907strut
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I love this time of the year. Not for the bipolar weather or being shamed for taking down the Christmas tree nearly a month after Christmas (I've been busy), but for all the amazing sales! This is the time of the year for clearance galore! Being from Alaska, I understand the value of a cute pair of boots and jacket so when you knock that bad boy down to pennies (compared to the original amount) you can count me in! Here is a list of 10 items under $30 and I believe they’re all worth it! (Hurry before someone else gets them!)

Torrid is having an additional 50% off on clearance items in the Dimond Center in Anchorage. Online, their clearance is "Buy one, get one free and you can redeem your Haute Cash, so hurry in before the sale ends. This robe is online for $41.98 BEFORE the additional 50% off. 

We’re moving on up, Anchorage! 

You may have noticed that we’ll soon have an H&M in the Dimond Center! Like most people, I’m excited about the fact that we’re getting a store locally that we raid when we’re on vacation. Although I’m pretty excited about getting to browse another store, I’m a little apprehensive from what I've experienced from them before. H&M is known for their fashion forward staple at inexpensive prices and for nearly every Twenty-Something, that is music to our ears! So you’re probably wondering why I’m apprehensive… Well I’ll tell you why!

THIS is why!

 This, shapeless pillow case with holes that H&M tried to pull off as a plus size top. #Annoyed

When I visited H&M while I was in Seattle I was extremely disappointed! I waltzed in like I was entering my own closet and then I saw this. Nope, not what I’d put in my closet.

If you would have removed the H&M sign, trendy straight sized clothes and the ads with David Beckham (OK, don’t remove those) I would've thought I was in an older woman’s plus size section; not a twenty-something fashion brand! Shapeless tops, ill-fitting pants and nothing that screams “H&M” like every other section in the store.

As a plus size, fashion forward, twenty-something, I was beyond disappointed! I actually felt offended. Yes, I do take ugly (yeah, I said it) plus size clothes personally. Why, because we've moved on from that point. We have options, now. We've made progress in this industry. Why is this still on the market? WOO-SAH!

Don’t get me wrong, I do think it’s great that they now offer plus size clothing. However, I do not think it’s great that they lack style. It’s a new year and maybe they have a new game plan. I’m rooting for the new H&M store in Anchorage, don’t let me down.

Tell me what you think about the new H&M store. Are you looking forward to them, or nah?

XOXOXO

Sharita L Conley

If only I could stop talking when my picture is being taken,,,, That's be great!

One of the biggest compliments I got from the night was that I was asked if I made the dress myself. My reply was "No, but by the end of 2015 I will be able to." I'm setting big goals, peeps. Watch out for me!